- Students: How a Small Crime Could Affect you the Rest of Your LifeThis blog series, first and foremost, serves as an alert to you, a warning of sorts. Have fun, but be cautious and try to think before you act. Most common crimes I have dealt with include marijuana possession, fake IDs, alcohol, and driving offenses such as DUI, occasionally shoplifting, and unfortunately but all too often, assault or domestic violence, which almost always involves alcohol.
- Students: How a Small Crime Could Affect You the Rest of Your LifeFacing tough penalties will not be the only worry for a student or young professional who has a drug conviction. Your college life and present/future career could be placed at surprising risk. For students, a misdemeanor drug conviction could affect your college life
- SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO REFERRED FOR PROSECUTIONOn Friday, August 19th United States District Court Judge G. Murray Snow, Phoenix, referred for prosecution Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan, Captain Steve Bailey, and Attorney Michele Iafrate. Previously, Judge Snow had held Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and three others in contempt for disobeying orders meant to curtail racial profiling […]
- Ninth Circuit: Religious Freedom Not A Defense For Marijuana ChargesOn June 14th, in US v. Christie, No. 14-10233 the Ninth Circuit affirmed the conviction of two ministers of the “Hawaii Cannabis Ministry” for violations of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Reverend Roger Cusick Christie founded the “Hawaii Cannabis Ministry,” envisioning the congregation as “a community wherein cannabis could be celebrated as a sacrament.” See […]
- SCOTUS:Texas’ HB2 Abortion Statute Unconstitutionalin Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, 505 U. S. 833, 878 (1992), a plurality of the U.S. Supreme Court, extending Roe V. Wade, held that a state cannot place an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to have an abortion; consequently, a provision of law is constitutionally invalid.
- Resisting Arrest in ArizonaDuring the chaotic moments of arrest some citizens struggle or ‘resist’ the efforts of police; however, what happens when multiple officers are involved in an arrest and the arrestee resists them all? Do individual officers each constitute a separate charge of resisting arrest? In State v. Jurden, No. CR–15–0236–PR, 2016 WL 3600262, at ¶1 (Ariz. […]
- ACLU Calls for Investigation of DHS Border AbuseOn May 27, 2016 the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lodged a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, calling for an investigation into “unchecked abuse” at the southwest U.S.-Mexico border. The complaint outlines thirteen specific instances of abuse. Among the most striking are those concerning an eleven year old boy who allegedly had […]
- Former Informants Are Not Protected GroupIn Hernandez-De La Cruz v Lynch, 819 F.3d 784 (5th Cir. April 26, 2016), the Fifth Circuit affirmed in part the denial of Hernandez-De La Cruz’s applications for withholding of removal under section 241(b)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows for withholding of removal if, “the applicant would face other serious harm in […]
- Federal Prohibited Possessor Laws ExpandedFederal law prohibits certain categories of individuals from purchasing or possessing firearms. Some of these categories (felons, fugitives from justice) might be familiar to you. Others (individuals convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence, individuals subject to domestic violence restraining orders), may not be. On Monday, June 27, the United States Supreme Court, in Voisine […]
- U.S. Supreme Court: Evidence Obtained in Unlawful Search and Seizure Can Now Be Admitted as Valid EvidenceOn Monday June 20, 2016 in Utah v. Strieff, 136 S.Ct. 1001 (Feb. 18, 2016) the United States Supreme Court held evidence will not be precluded when it is procured after a police stop, regardless of the stops legality, if the suspect has an outstanding warrant. In 2006, Officer Fackrell was watching a house for […]